What's with hurricane season?

[htmb]

Yes, sounds very promising!

[casimira]

That is very good news Kimby.

It will be difficult for your and Mr. K. to see the devastation of familiar haunts etc. despite having seen aerial photos and the like. In other words, the sensory overload will be jarring once you set foot on the island.

Be sure to have adequate gear because of all the mold etc. that will only worsen in a month's time especially with the sun's heat bearing down on it over time.

So many people I know suffered respiratory ailments both mild and others more serious from inhaling all those particles from mold and mildew.

As for FEMA, I sure do hope they have their act together better than they did ten years or more ago. Here, they are still a 4 letter word, they were so inept. Who can ever forget "Brownie", and the President W's famous quote "you're doing a heck of a job Brownie".
_{(I know of two people with young puppies who had named their dog "Brownie" and immediately changed their name after that illustrious comment)}. 

[kerouac2]

I will be curious to hear if all of the cleaning and removal services are up and running by the time you get to Sanibel. Obviously the number of employees doing this kind of work will have been multiplied by 10, but I think that we all know that most of them will not be of the highest quality. (But at least some of the vagrants and ex-cons will have an honest job for a few months.)

[casimira]

I am thinking that Governer DeSantis will seize the opportunity to politicize this and make the cleanup/recovery efforts go smoothly. If only to say, "look what I did", "the Feds didn't do their fair share" etc. and try to gain more support. Sad but true I'm afraid.

[mich64]

Kimby, it sounds like it could be a fairly good result after the devastation on the island. I hope you are able to have it repaired and cleaned up without too much difficulty or insurance/FEMA delays. My friend has returned home from Bradenton, I seen her yesterday, we shared some hugs, I was so relieved to see her. We are getting together tomorrow for some drinks on the dock where she is going to tell us about her experience. She said she met so many lovely people who helped her out throughout her whole time there.

[Kimby]

Sanibel update: our mayor and city manager have done an astounding job coordinating the early recovery efforts, and have held daily Facebook Live briefings for the first two weeks, now thrice weekly.

With assistance from the governor (damn, I hate it that this will make DeSantis look good) and POTUS, the causeway was “rebuilt” in FIVE DAYS, a temporary structure to be sure, but adequate to allow a convoy of 400 power company trucks on the island to begin the task of replacing every concrete power pole that snapped off in the 150 mph gusts. (A tent camp of 500 workers was set up on the abandoned Sanibel School’s grounds .) Fortunately the main transmission line from the mainland was not damaged, and there is good coordination on replacing the transformer components that got submerged in saltwater. There may even be power on the island by our scheduled arrival on November 15.

The water company has also been making quick work of getting the wells back online and the reverse osmosis desalination process going again. They are recharging the main water lines and will soon be turning on water to homes, cautiously, as there may be invisible breaks in lines. We had a hose reel on the front side of our house that was ripped off the wall by the surge. The reel has disappeared, but the hose remains, fastened to the spigot on the copper line just above our main house shut-off valve. Hopefully the torque on the pipe hasn’t caused any damage so we can possibly have water when we get there. It will not be potable though, and boil water orders will be in effect. But it’s hard to do any cleaning without access to water.

We are told that the sewer system will take longer to bring back online, as so many of the lift stations were damaged by salt water. So we may not be able to use toilets or take showers even if the water is back in. A convoy of portapotties was brought on-island by barge, and there are now 12 locations with 10 potties each scattered around the island. A church has somehow set up what resembles a fire camp in their parking lot with semi trailer shower units and laundry and toilet facilities. They are also hosting a free BBQ every day. (Casi, that might be a cause worth donating to.)

We are on the list to have an electrician inspect our meter and main panel which were both submerged and will need replacing. The outlets and light switches in the lower level shop/storage also got wet, so it may be awhile before we can get hooked up. I hope this electrician comes through for us. The neighbors were a little higher and dryer, so maybe we can run an extension cord to his house if ours can’t be powered on yet.

Air conditioning won’t be available for a long time as the condenser unit was underwater. Maybe with electricity we could run just the fan part of the HVAC. Since the screen porch was completely descreened we will have to staple screening over the sliding glass door openings to allow air movement while keeping out the swarms of biting insects now infesting the island. Sounds like paradise, doesn’t it?

And now we have to decide whether it’s safe to take Pearl with us. If we go for 8 weeks, it’s too long to leave her behind, but mosquitos carry heart worm, and mold can ravage little lungs that are so close to the floor.

Watching and waiting and hoping for the best.

[Kimby]

Some video, might need to be a Facebook user to see it.

/?flite=scwspnss

[casimira]

This trip will be very emotional I imagine. All the videos and depictions of the devastation will pale compared to what you will see firsthand I'm afraid.

As for your kitty Pearl, I suggest you contact your vet. There are heartworm preventative oral medications available for heartworms. Here in NOLA, it's "mosquito heaven" so every responsible pet owner has their animals take heart worm medication.
8 weeks is a very long time to leave her at her age. 
I hope it all works out for you.

[mickthecactus]

It seems like they’re doing a good job of recovery but the video shows a lot of chaos to sort.

[Kimby]

Our City Manager, Dana Souza, is a relatively new hire, but they hit the jackpot when they hired him. Smart, organized, personable, self-deprecating, good at both the infrastructure stuff and the interpersonal stuff.

Daily public updates by Facebook live for 2 weeks, now on a MWF basis. Amazing what they are accomplishing. Gives us hope.

[Kimby]

A neighbor who got his electrical inspected was told it might be 6 MONTHS before he got power! Without electricity, it is impossible for us to stay on the island as we have planned.
Watching and waiting, and hoping for favorable updates. A little over 3 weeks till D Day.

[kerouac2]

Can you rent a generator?

[Kimby]

There are 10000 people without power on Sanibel and Captiva alone. Lots of competition for generators. And we will be late to the game, arriving in November.

[kerouac2]

Looks like the Atlantic coast of Florida is going to receive a visit from Nicole.

[htmb]

You’re a little off your game when it comes to hurricane notices.

[mich64]

My friend is in Bradenton, Florida again for another holiday, this time she is staying for a month. It looks like she will experience a tropical storm tomorrow.

[htmb]

Hurricane, now Tropical Storm, Nicole has caused a lot of coastal damage on Florida’s east side, and has made it across the state to the Gulf near Spring Hill. It’s predicted to travel north into Georgia where it should eventually downgrade to a tropical depression. While the eye of the storm did pass south of my area, the storm pretty much affected the whole state with wind gusts and lots of rain. It hasn’t been too bad here in North Central Florida as far as I can tell, but there’s always the possibility of tornadoes to worry about when on the east side of a storm. We are still experiencing strong wind gusts, but the rain has now diminished a good bit from what it was this morning.

I had a laugh last night when I checked the National weather service storm site. Where they typically show a diagram of the path a storm is predicted to take, for a brief period of time they’d placed a large brown circle over the whole state with the caption, ”Stop looking at the path. This is an atypical storm what will affect most of Florida." I went and checked later, and the page was back to normal. Wish I’d taken a screen shot.

[kerouac2]

For a category 1 hurricane, Nicole really messed up Daytona.

[Kimby]

On our way to Fort Myers with plans to pick up a rental truck to go to the island, for a camp out in our house.

We finally got an electrician to inspect our submerged meter and main breaker. He told us what back-ordered part was needed, and Mr. Kimby found one on Amazon and had it shipped to the electrician. It’s been installed (we have the invoice for $465 to prove it), and the proper (we hope) forms were submitted to the city last week, and City forwards it to the LCEC electric coop, which then installs a new meter.

Our neighbors said as of yesterday no meter, so we called LCEC and were told that our info would be passed on to the crews who do the installing (around 600 meters a week). We HOPE to get power today or tomorrow, but no guarantees. Our poor house has been without power (& AC) for almost 7 weeks. The water and sewer are both up and running finally, though each house gets turned on individually by request. We requested ours to be turned on today. Hope there aren’t any hidden leaks.

It will be dark when we arrive, so we have headlamps and flashlights for outside and candles for inside. It’s an adventure!

[mickthecactus]

Good luck Kimby!

[fumobici]

I can't imagine. Good luck!

[kerouac2]

The pioneer spirit!

[Kimby]

Well, glory be! Though we moved in by headlights and headlamps , there was a new meter, so we cautiously started throwing breakers, and let there be light! We also have water. And now hot water, too.

The outside, though, including porches and steps, the screen porch and the carport are a muddy mess and there are branches and parts of trees and palm fronds down all over. We have all kinds of hurricane booty scattered amongst the bushes: doors, lumber, shingles, a whole wall section, a Christmas tree stand, a lawn chair that isn’t ours, and who knows what else the daylight will reveal.

It must have blown hard enough to shake the whole house on its stilts as books had toppled off the book shelf. Thank goodness for the stilts, though, for the house stayed pretty much dry. Some water blew in around the hurricane shutter in the kitchen, leaving a sandy miniature beach on the kitchen counter. And the toilet bowls were completely dry. All in all much better than it could have been. And much better than our ground level neighbors fared.

We will have our work cut out for us tomorrow, and the next day and the next day…

[bixaorellana]

Congratulations, Kimby! I know your hearts must have been in your mouths as you opened the front door, but it sounds as though everything is in good shape, under the circumstances.

[bjd]

You were in luck with your house, Kimby. I hope the cleanup won't be too hard.

[kerouac2]

Sounds great. You were also lucky not to be there during the first weeks, and not just because of power and water. I know that a lot of hurricanes lift all of the snakes and other nasties upon into secret refuges that you don't expect. At least enough time has passed for them to be gone now.

[breeze]

Kimby, what a relief for you. You do have a lot of work ahead of you but this is encouraging. Stilts must be the way to go.

[Kimby]

In the years since our house was built in 1982 the code was revised to require 3 more feet elevation above sea level. It was in doubt that our 8’ above ground (to the floorboards) was enough height.

BTW if the cost to repair a house exceeds 50% of the structure’s per storm value, it must be rebuilt or raised up to the latest code.

[casimira]

I'm glad you finally made it there Kimby and got to assess the damage(s) firsthand.

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you.

I hope you pace yourself and don't overdo it. 

(I know my back wouldn't be able to handle it. I have an adjustable back brace that I wear for when I have to do any lifting.)

Best wishes.

[htmb]

It sounds like you’re on a real adventure, Kimby. Good to hear things were in even better shape than you’d anticipated.